Hawkweed moth
| Hawkweed moth | ||||||||||||
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Males and females |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lemonia dumi | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1761) |
The hawkweed Spinner ( Lemonia dumi ) is a butterfly from the family of lemoniidae .
features
The wingspan of the moth varies between 45 and 65 millimeters. The males are smaller than the females. The body is hairy. The wings are brown, significantly lighter in the female, with a clay-yellow central band, hem and discoid spot . The antennae are long and closely combed in the male, combed short in the female. The caterpillars are up to 70 millimeters long and are thick and walnut with a dark brown color, light purple, sparsely yellow-brown hairy with elongated velvety black spots on both sides.
Occurrence
They are widespread in Central Europe, albeit very locally, preferably on dry, sunny, unfertilized meadows, and more rarely on moist meadows and have become very rare in the meantime.
Way of life
The males fly during the day in search of the females. The flight preferably takes place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the sunshine over open, dry meadows and is very fast and unsteady. The females sit close to the ground during the day and send out pheromones to attract the males. The lifespan of adults is very short.
Flight and caterpillar times
The Hawkweed moths fly mainly in October and November, often after the first night frosts, the caterpillars live from May to July.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars mainly feed on the leaves of hawkweed and dandelion .
development
After mating, the females lay the eggs preferably on several short-stemmed, dry stems. The eggs are whitish with a dark central spot and overwinter. The caterpillars live individually on the ground and pupate in the ground. The pupae are dark brown with two elongated protrusions on the back behind the thoracic shield. Sometimes they overlie.
Hazard and protection
The species is considered endangered and is classified in category 2 of the Red List of Endangered Species in Germany. In particular, because of the strong fertilization of the meadows, the required lean meadow biotope is increasingly being lost.
swell
- W. Forster, TA Wohlfahrt: Spinners and enthusiasts. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1960.
Web links
- Lemonia dumi at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 27, 2011
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- Occurrence and endangerment in Germany